If You're Gonna Love Me
by whowhatsitwhich
Summary: The question brought a smile to his lips, even though his blue eyes still had that faraway look. "They were always together. It started when we lost Sophia on the highway. She was gone when the prison fell but we found each other after Terminus. After that, they didn't let the other out of their sight if they could help it."


_"I wanna be loved like that, I wanna be loved like that_  
><em>A promise you can't take back If you're gonna love me"<em>~Shenandoah I wanna be loved like that

Carl stood quietly looking out over the rolling fields and the slow curve of the river. It was hard to believe it had been ten years. Ten hard and arduous years since they'd left the prison behind. His little sister wasn't so little anymore. Judith Grimes was eleven going on eighteen, with her mother's big eyes and a ready grin. She had their father's auguring stare when somebody ruffled her feathers. It was both funny and a little bit scary to see her small face twist into that intent expression. The little hellcat managed to get her way more often than not.

He heard footsteps scuffing the gravel and looked over his shoulder, offering a smile to the girl that stopped alongside. "Pretty day," he commented into the quiet. She nodded, a smile briefly touching her lips before it faded as she lifted a hand to shade her eyes.

"You been down there yet?" A mute head shake was her only reply. "Your dad wanted everyone to go down a little later," she muttered. "I think he wanted to make it something for the whole group."

Carl shook his head, turning to the side so he could knuckle the sudden wetness away without being obvious. She pretended she didn't see. "They wouldn't want a big scene. He hated everybody looking at him and she…well, she was always there doing what needed to be done. She didn't like a lot of fuss either."

She listened intently, curious about those she hadn't known. She watched from the corner of her eye as his hand wandered to the knuckle duster hanging from his belt. "How come nobody mentions one without the other? If you say his name, hers comes right after."

The question brought a smile to his lips, even though his blue eyes still had that faraway look. "They were always together. It started when we lost Sophia on the highway. She was gone when the prison fell but we found each other after Terminus. After that, they didn't let the other out of their sight if they could help it."

"Sounds like they loved each other a lot," the girl mused, her voice soft and low.

"They did," Carl mouthed back just as quiet. "It wouldn't obvious but you just had to see them together to know it was real."

The girl nodded in understanding, her eyes moving back to the grove tucked into the curve of the river. The stand of pecan trees made a pretty little hamlet in the oxbow, thick leaves turning the light into a mottled haze. "So how did they…."

"He went first," the words came hard but he forced them out. "A rusty nail. She did everything she could but he just slipped away one morning. She wasn't the same after that."

She laid a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze before letting it fall away. He didn't let on, eyes still on the tipping sun and the feathery leaves of the grove. She prompted, more out of habit than the need to know. She'd heard this story more than once but knew it helped him to tell it. "And then?"

"The last big herd," he smiled through the tears slipping silently down his cheeks. "She saved Judith. Took the bite that should have taken my sister. I thanked her before I put her down." He gestured toward the grove, trying not to notice how his fingers shook. "We put her beside him. It's what she wanted…the two of them together under the pecan trees."

"And the flower?" Her voice was the faintest of whispers as her fingers traced the delicate petals.

"It's a Cherokee rose," Carl proffered the matching blooms. "He said it meant hope. She always smiled when she saw it."

The girl smiled as she fingered the velvet petals. "I'll go with you if you want."

He nodded and then offered her his hand and together they crossed the field.


End file.
